ISRO’s year of commercial launches

Chennai: The year 2015 could be termed as one of the commercial launches for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) while steps have been taken to spread the usage of space technology within India.

During the year, the Indian space agency launched 17 foreign satellites as against three Indian ones from its rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Last month, India also launched its GSAT-15 communication satellite using the Ariane rocket of the European space agency, taking the total number of satellite launches in 2015 to 21 (17 foreign, four Indian).

India will send aloft two telecommunication satellites – GSAT-17 and GSAT-18 – on the Ariane 5 rocket in 2016 and 2017.

However, it terms of the foreign tonnage, ISRO had transported around 2,148 kg, which is much below the GSAT-15’s three-tonne weight.

According to space agency officials, India has contracted to launch over 20 satellites – a mix of nano, micro and normal sized ones -over the next three years.

According to ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar, the immediate focus is on completing the second vehicle (rocket) assembly line that would enable increasing the launch frequency.

In terms of rockets used, 19 satellites were launched with the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and one communication satellite – the GSAT-6 – with a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV).

During the year, India joined a select group of nations – the US, Japan and Russia, as also Europe – with the successful launch of the Astrostat space observatory. India also moved a step forward towards its own satellite navigation systems by launching the IRNSS-1D in March.

On July 13, India launched its satellite-based air navigation services GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation Satellite System) and in the process joined a select group of the US and Japan, as also the European Union (EU) that have a similar system.

GAGAN is meant to provide accurate navigation services over the Bay of Bengal, southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, Middle East and African region.

In another plus, the space agency successfully tested the restarting of the PSLV rocket after its engine was cut off during the mission to launch six Singaporean satellites on December 16. This would enable ISRO to launch multiple satellites in different orbits with a single rocket.

And, to increase the usage of Indian space technology a meeting of central government ministries were held in New Delhi during the year where ISRO showcased its products and services and their uses.

Besides, with the launch of the GAGAN and IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) projects, ISRO and the Airports Authority of India organised a user-meet in Bengaluru for these services.

The year 2015 also saw the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC) tribunal deciding against ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation for cancelling a $300 million (Rs.2,000 crore) deal with Bengaluru-based Devas Multimedia Ltd. This involved a 12-year lease of 90 percent of transponder space on two satellites, G-SAT6 and G-SAT6A that were yet to go aloft at the time.

The ICC awarded $672 million (Rs.4,434 crore) in damages to Devas Multimedia and ISRO said it would contest the award.

Highlights:

* India’s Mars Orbiter completed 100 days of its Martian orbit on the New Year’s Day 2015.

* Distinguished scientist A.S. Kiran Kumar was appointed a secretary, department of space and ISRO chairman.

* The year ending was the 40th year after the launch India’s first satellite, Aryabhata, with a Russian rocket.

* Till date, 50 rockets – not including sounding rockets – have been launched from Sriharikota.

* Indian Railways initiated discussions with ISRO on the possibility of using GPS-Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) for safety at unmanned railway crossings.(Venkatachary Jagannathan, IANS)

We can’t imagine a day without the assistance provided by the Indian scientists. Wikimedia Commons

We are always associated with science and its related reach

Indian scientists have made some cutting-edge research work in various fields

India’s huge strides in the field of Space program is the result of extensive rersearch work done by many famous Indian scientists

Science is something we are surrounded very briskly. Science has occupied us more aggressively than we can ever assume even. From our regular cellphone to innovative technologies of the 21st century, from our smart homes to space technology, it all fits into science and technology. We can’t imagine a day without the assistance provided by the science.

India has come up a long way in the field of science and technology. The invention of zero and the discovery of ‘Raman Effect”, are all credited to Indian scientists, as they have immensely contributed to their research works.

To appreciate the bliss of such comfort, we have compiled a list of fifteen famous Indian scientists who have changed the whole scenario of living and even achieved global recognition for their immense support to the humanity.

1. Vikram Sarabhai

Vikram Sarabhai is considered as the Father of India’s space program. He was born on 12 August 1919. Vikram Sarabhai’s contribution to the Indian space program is well-known. He was the sole man behind the establishment of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and the Nehru Foundation for Development.

After the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite, Vikram Sarabhai was able to convince the Indian government about the importance of a space program for a developing nation.

Vikram Sarabhai is considered as the Father of India’s space program. Wikimedia Commons

He was honoured with many prestigious awards including Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Medal in 1962, Padma Bhushan in 1966 and Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) in 1972

2. APJ Abdul Kalam

The former President of India, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was elite spearhead scientist of India. His contribution remains indispensable in the field of defence and missile programs. He worked for two of the most decorated Indian institutes, one as the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and other one is Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Abdul Kalam was born on October 15, 1931. In one of his books, he talked about making India a developed nation by 2020. Abdul Kalam’s love for young generation can be gauged by the fact that he had set a goal of meeting 100,000 students in 2 years after his resignation from the role of scientific adviser in 1999.

Abdul Kalam kick-started his career with designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army. After that, he was moved to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as the project director of India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). The program resulted in the successful deployment of the Rohini satellite in earth’s orbit in July 1980.

Abdul Kalam kick-started his career with designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army. Wikimedia Commons

For his contribution towards science and technology, Abdul Kalam was bestowed with prestigious award including Bharat Ratna.

He has inspired millions of people around the globe with his dedication and hard work and he still remains the idol for many of us.

3. Homi Bhabha

Homi Bhabha is acknowledged as the father of Indian nuclear power. Homi Jehangir Bhabha is better known as Homi Bhabha. He was born on October 30, 1909, in Bombay. He is known for his crucial role in the Quantum Theory.

He started his scientific career in nuclear physics from Great Britain. After completing his education in London, Homi Bhabha returned to India and convince the Congress Party’s senior leaders, especially Jawaharlal Nehru, to start the indigenous nuclear programme. Although, he was very much against the development of atomic bombs, even if the country had enough resources to do so. He rather advocated the use of nuclear energy to wave off India’s misery and poverty.

Finally, Homi Bhabha was decorated as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India.

Homi Bhabha is known for his crucial role in the Quantum Theory. Wikimedia Commons

He lost his life in an air crash near Mont Blanc on 24 January 1966. There are many conspiracy theories and speculation regarding the role of CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in the plane crash. As some reports suggested, CIA was very much averse to the advancement of India’s nuclear program.

4. Venkatraman Radhakrishnan

Venkatraman Radhakrishnan was an Indian space scientist and is known for his design and fabrication of ultra-light aircraft and sailboats. Radhakrishnan was born on May 18, 1929, and died at the age of 81.

Radhakrishnan was an internationally honoured Astrophysicist. His work helped in understanding the space and many mysteries surrounding pulsars, galaxy structures, interstellar clouds and other celestial bodies. For his work in space exploration, he was taken as the member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

5. M Visvesvaraya

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was a distinguished Indian scientist, engineer, scholar and statesman. He stressed upon industrialization. He wanted India to be at par with industrialized nations as he believed that India can become developed through industries.

M Visvesvaraya was born on 15 September 1860. He is honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest award.

M Visvesvaraya is acknowledged for his work of inventing ‘automatic sluice gates’ and ‘block irrigation system’ which are still wonders in engineering. He also innovated an efficient way of filtering water through ‘Collector Wells’ in 1895 which was a sensation in itself.

Due to his valuable contribution to engineering, his birthday is celebrated as Engineer’s Day in India.

6. Jagadish Chandra Bose

Jagadish Chandra Bose is known for pioneering in the study of radio and microwave optics which helped in the study of plants and establishing the experimental science in the Indian sub-continent. He was born on 30 November 1858. People used to call him as Acharya J.C. Bose. Jagadish Chandra Bose was a multi-talented personality, as he was well versed as a polymath, physicist, biologist, botanist and archaeologist.

Jagadish Chandra Bose was the first person to demonstrating wireless communication with the help of semiconductor junctions to detect radio signals. His other works include the invention of the Crescograph. Through this, he was able to study the plant’s response to various stimuli and proved that plants can feel pain, understand affection etc.

Jagadish Chandra Bose was the first person to demonstrating wireless communication. Wikimedia Commons

He is also considered to be the father of open technology. He wanted people to work on his developments and thus never patented his work. Jagadish Chandra Bose was also very much into the writing of science fiction and he is also considered as the father of Bengali science fiction.

7. Subrahmanyan Chandrashekar

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was the nephew of the famous Indian scientist, CV Raman. The term, “Chandrasekhar limit” is named after him. He was born on October 19 and died on August 21, 1995, at the age of 82 in Chicago.

His best-known work was in the radiation of energy from stars, particularly white dwarf stars, which are the dying fragments of stars. For his mathematical theory of black holes, Chandrasekhar was conferred Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983.

In 1953, Chandrasekhar was granted United States citizenship.

8. Satyendra Nath Bose

Satyendra Nath Bose was popularly known as SN Bose. He was an Indian physicist and known for his work in the field of ‘bosons‘, which were named after him by Paul Dirac to commemorate his work in the field. He specialized in quantum mechanics.

Once Satyendra Nath sent a short article on “Planck’s Law and the Hypothesis of Light Quanta” to Albert Einstein. Interestingly, this article was accepted by Einstein and translated into German. Later it got published in Zeitschrift für Physik under Bose’s name, in 1924. Satyendra Nath also gave a lecture at the University of Dhaka on the theory of radiation and the ultraviolet catastrophe.

The Rabindranath Tagore’s book on science, ‘Visva–Parichay’ was dedicated to him in 1937. Satyendra Nath was also awarded India’s second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan in 1954.

9. CV Raman

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman is popularly known as CV Raman and was an Indian scientist. He was born in Tiruchirapalli on November 7, 1888. CV Raman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his pioneering work on scattering of light. He was the first Asian and first non-White to receive any Nobel Prize in the sciences.

His other works include the working of the acoustics of musical instruments. CV Raman was the one who probed into the sound of the Indian drums such as the Tabla and the Mridangam. “Raman scattering” still remains most accepted and notable work of CV Raman. He explained that, when light passes through a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes into wavelength and this causes “Raman Effect”.

Unfortunately, in October 1970, he fell unconscious while working and was immediately moved to a hospital. Doctors advised him to stay there but he was adamant about moving to his Institute (the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore) and live his last moments in the vicinity of flowers of his institute. He was laid to rest on 21 November 1970.

CV Raman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his pioneering work on scattering of light. Wikimedia Commons

Before taking his last breath, CV Raman uttered, “Do not allow the journals of the Academy to die, for they are the sensitive indicators of the quality of Science being done in the country and whether science is taking root in it or not.”

10. Srinivasa Ramanujan

Ramanujam was an Indian mathematician who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions. His work includes mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions.

Ramanujam was born on December 22, 1887, and by age 11, he hushed up the mathematical knowledge of two college students who were lodgers at his home.

By the age of 13, he mastered a book on advanced trigonometry written by S. L. Loney and came up with his own theorems.

During his stay in England, Ramanujam faced a lot of health problems due to the scarcity of vegetarian food. After that, he came back India and died at the age of 32.